Gaming device manufacturers have endeavored for years to provide gaming devices which entertain players. Well known gaming devices provide a game with entertaining game elements such as game themes or schemes, background designs, cabinet decorations, game rules, and other aspects associated with a gaming device.
Gaming device players are sometimes inconvenienced by the operation of certain known gaming devices. For example, to initiate a play of a gaming device, a player places coins or tokens in a gaming device to make a wager. However, obtaining coinage for a gaming device, carrying the coinage to and from a gaming device and depositing the coins in the gaming device can be time-consuming and labor-intensive repetitive tasks for certain people.
Accordingly, gaming device manufacturers have provided gaming devices having devices for receiving paper currency and/or tickets and dispensing tickets. In addition, manufacturers have proposed devices for receiving and reading magnetically or otherwise coded cards. Other types of cards received by gaming devices include player tracking information cards which are prevalent throughout the gaming industry. The information generally stored on the cards respectively include credits purchased by a player and player identification information.
Although tickets and coded cards can provide added convenience in operating gaming devices, there are potential disadvantages associated with their use. The tickets and cards can be damaged or destroyed. For example, a magnetic strip on a card can be damaged, thus rendering the card unreadable. In addition, the information stored on a card can be read or processed incorrectly. Further, players can lose the cards and tickets.
To play most gaming devices, a player must physically touch the gaming device to at least make a wager and initiate a game. Many players repeatedly play the same game and repeatedly make the same bet or wager. While these acts are a significant part of the enjoyment for many players, some players may quickly tire of making such physical acts even though they want to repeatedly play the gaming device. Additionally, many players such as senior citizens and disabled people have found that repeatedly physically touching the gaming device can be physically difficult.
One known wireless gaming device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,410. This patent discloses a gaming system with a slot machine and a portable controller such as a remote control. In one embodiment, the controller includes a battery operated hand-held controller and, most preferably, a light weight remote control. The portable controller is operatively associated with and spaced from the slot machine to remotely play a game on the slot machine. In one embodiment, the controller has at least one button such as a one play or spin button. In another embodiment, the controller has a set of buttons to cause various other events to occur such as cashing out the accumulated credits or playing multiple games in a row. When a button is pushed on the remote control, a signaling light extending from the remote control generates and emits a visual signal which is transmitted to a receptor, such as a receptor light, on the front of the slot machine to remotely actuate and control the slot machine. However, this patent does not appear to disclose a gaming device with the ability to detect the presence/alignment of a remote control unit and automatically begin an initialization process. Nor does this patent appear to disclose a gaming device with the ability to transmit signals to the remote control (such as for messaging, advertisements, and player account updates). Moreover, this patent does not appear to disclose a remote control unit that is operable to receive wireless signals from the gaming device, operable with a specific initialized gaming device and operable to store player credit information.
Accordingly, there is a need for a gaming device which enables players to make wagers and play a game without repeatedly physically touching the gaming device wherein the gaming device is also operable to detect the presence/alignment of a remote control unit and automatically begin an initialization process, and further operable to transmit signals to the remote control (such as for messaging, advertisements, and player account updates). Moreover, there is a need for a remote control unit that is operable to receive wireless signals from the gaming device, operable with a specific initialized gaming device and further operable to store player credit information and enable players to input credits into the gaming device via the remote control unit.